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<title>Love Me Tender by SmileAndWave (Tammy_grateful)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25816675">Love Me Tender</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammy_grateful/pseuds/SmileAndWave'>SmileAndWave (Tammy_grateful)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gus and Alice [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wynonna Earp (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>EFA Fic Challenge 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:26:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,346</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25816675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammy_grateful/pseuds/SmileAndWave</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gus and Alice adjust to each other. Well, Gus adjusts to Alice.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gus McCready &amp; Alice Michelle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gus and Alice [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love Me Tender</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know a fic that doesn't include Wayhaught isn't for everyone. And a baby fic is even a smaller target audience. I tried to write a multi chapter fic with snippets from the lives of Gus and Alice, but it just wasn't working. That said, they do okay as stand alone one-shots. So I'll toss one out every once in a while. This is the second. Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first week alone with Alice had passed without much fuss. Gus felt like it was a month. “I don’t know what we were thinking, Curtis! This little bean is exhausting! Of course, many hands make light work, so it would’ve been easier as a team for sure. I tease. Oh, she is a dear! Looks a lot like Wynonna. I hope her temperament is easier than her mother’s!” She shivered at the possibility of a second hellion in her home. </p><p>Gus was folding the load of laundry she had just finished. Tiny onesies, pajamas, blankets, and socks that hardly stayed on little Alice’s feet were placed in the bureau in the guest room - Alice’s room. Alice was doing what she did best, sleeping. She didn’t have to be in the room with Alice. Alice slept just fine. Gus just felt a need to be close, like everything was okay when she could hear her breathing and smell her presence. Any irritation she had in the amount of laundry she now had to do disappeared once that new baby smell hit her nose.</p><p>Perhaps being responsible for Alice was a little bit like when Wynonna and Waverly were there the first few weeks. Both were so traumatized by the events at the homestead. Waverly wouldn’t talk about it much, hell she wouldn’t talk much at all. And Wynonna was fiercely protective. <em>“It’s okay, Waves. Those demons can’t get us now. And we are still trying to find Willa. We will find her. We have to.”</em> It broke Gus’ heart to no end their loss of their older sister. She held out hope, too, of finding her, but as the days passed, her hopes declined, her hope turning to dread.</p><p>But the demon talk. Gus would have nothing of it. At first she thought Wynonna was using it as a metaphor, but Wynonna was insistent. <em>“We saw their eyes, Aunt Gus. They glowed red. Every one of them.”</em></p><p>Gus shook her head at the memory, and compared it to where she was in her life now. Early retirement, no real responsibilities (well, until now). An easy life. She looked into the crib again. Alice was dreaming again, this time a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Precious.” was all she whispered before grabbing her phone and opening the camera. She just wanted to capture the tender moment. Alice asleep, content, safe. She gave a thought to send it to Wynonna, but then stopped herself. “Which would be worse, knowing you couldn’t see your child to keep it safe, or seeing a photo of your child and knowing you gave it away to keep it safe?” She looked at the picture a moment longer, then closed the phone and set it down.</p><p>By the end of the second week, Gus went to grab a diaper and saw there were only 10 left. “How? You’d think the ‘experts’ at the diaper company would know how many diapers a baby used in a day!” She added “Diapers” to her grocery list. Then it hit her - they would have to go out of the house. Alone. And drive places. Oh, boy.</p><p>“How to install your car seat. This should be interesting.” Gus grabbed the contraption by the handle and walked to the truck. The car seat was big and bulky, hard to carry. She couldn’t imagine carrying it any distance with Alice in it! She got to the truck and separated the carrier from the base. Her setup looked just like the instructions, more or less. A good 15 minutes later, she was still at it. She had a foot on the base that was on the seat, and she was pulling up on the seatbelt that was snaked through a maze of slits and holes. “What the hell? There is no way you can get the base to move less than one inch side to side!” She then heard Alice cry. “Damn!” Frustrated at not being able to complete the task, she gave up and headed back inside.</p><p>Changed, fed, and redressed twice, Alice was laying on a blanket on her tummy on the living room floor. She had peed out of her diaper, requiring a change of clothes. Then, after her bottle, she had spit up requiring yet another change. A bit frustrated, Gus thought some time together while Alice was awake and in a good mood would calm her down. Sure enough, watching Alice on her tummy trying to turn her head from side to side, grunting in effort did the trick. Gus’ face had softened. Alice moved her arms about, trying to find a way to push and lift her head at the same time. Her hand tucked in near her mouth, and all efforts of turning her head stopped as she began sucking on her fist.</p><p>Gus chuckled. “That’s your fist, silly! You won’t find any food there.” Alice began voicing her frustration, so Gus helped roll her over to her back. Alice looked at her, and Gus took that to mean thank you. “Welcome. I will be glad when you can get yourself turned over. When does that happen, anyway?” she grabbed one of the baby books she had on hand and found a chart labeled, ‘Milestones’.  “At 5 months! That is a long way away! Maybe you and I can work to make that happen sooner, what do you say, Alice?” Alice cooed in reply followed by a grimace of sorts. Then tooted. Productively. “Again?”<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>___________________</p>
</div><p>Gus had tried a second time at the carseat installation, then sought help from the expert: Google. Several videos showed she was more or less doing everything correctly. Further research told her to try the local police station or fire station to see if the had a trained and certified technician to help install the seat. The Fire station did, and Gus drove ridiculously slow to the station, hoping Alice would be safe enough in a fairly correctly installed car seat.</p><p>A woman met her out front of the station. She had a friendly smile and welcomed her with a handshake. “Glad to meet ya. I am Gus McCready, this here is Alice Michelle,” Gus said in greeting.</p><p>“The feeling is mutual! My name is Sue Smith. So you are having trouble with car seat installation? Let’s see what we can do to help.” Sue removed the car seat containing Alice and set her down beside the truck.</p><p>Sue was impressed it was in as good as it was, but managed to get the base so tightly installed it barely moved. To get that result, she had basically put all her weight into the base and pulled the seatbelt with all her might. If she can do it, so can I, thought Gus. Since Gus wanted to try under supervision, they uninstalled it, and Gus went to work. Sure enough, after a few tries, she was able to match the technician and the base hardly moved. “Well, I’ll be damned. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? What do you think, Alice? How cool is your Aunt Gus now?”</p><p>Alice was still in the carseat, but it was currently surrounded by a group of 4 firemen, all chiseled, none weighing less than 225 pounds of solid muscle. They were making baby sounds and sporting funny faces in order to gain Alice’s attention. </p><p>“Who’s a pretty baby? Who’s a pretty baby? You are, that’s right!”</p><p>“Agooo. Agoo!”</p><p>“Peek-a-boo!”</p><p>It took all of her effort to not laugh, but then she made eye contact with the woman who helped her install the base, and both women burst out in laughter. Gus took a picture. It was priceless.</p><p>Gus thanked the firemen, promising to bring by some baked goods. They all said it would be payment enough to bring Alice back so they could say hi to her. Gus rolled her eyes at Alice and said, “Flirt.” She then left, confident Alice was as safe as she could be. Off to the grocery store. Diapers were at level critical.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>_________________</p>
</div><p>Gus and Alice were falling into somewhat of a routine. Gus felt lucky she was retired. She had no clue how working parents did this. Caring for all the needs of a helpless human was all-consuming. She hadn’t even been back fishing! She was surprised that she was okay with that.</p><p>One day Alice was cranky. She cried inconsolably. Gus went through the List, trying to determine the cause. She wasn’t hungry. She had a clean diaper. She tried swaddling her and putting her down for a nap to no avail. They walked and rocked continuously for what seemed hours, though it was only 40 minutes. She didn’t have a temperature. Gas drops didn’t help. Alice kept kicking her feet, so she knew something was bothering her, but what? She had picked up her phone three times to consult a doctor, but stopped short of calling. “No! Think, Gus! You’ve got this! What could it be?”</p><p>She laid Alice down on Gus’ bed and touched her tummy, causing Alice’s breath to catch, then she cried again. After laying her hand gently on Alice’s stomach, she started massaging in a circle on her belly. She kept at it for over 10 minutes, and finally Alice calmed. She had filled her diaper again. “You were constipated? I’ve been there! I didn’t even know babies could get constipated!” Once freshly changed, she laid Alice back down on the bed, then joined her. Alice was so relieved, she fell into that happy place just before sleep. “I think I might join you on a nap!” But sleep didn’t come right away. Gus lay there, watching Alice’s eyelids drift from open to closed several times. Gus began to sing quietly,</p><p>
Love me tender,<br/>
love me sweet,<br/>
never let me go.<br/>
You have made my life complete,<br/>
and I love you so.</p><p>Love me tender,<br/>
love me true,<br/>
all my dreams fulfilled.<br/>
For my darlin' I love you,<br/>
and I always will.</p><p>Alice's breathing became regular, indicating she was asleep. <em>I wish you could be here experiencing this, Curtis. I didn’t think it would be possible to love someone as much as I loved you, but as I live and breathe this little girl has stolen my heart! I know she would have you wrapped around this tiny finger in no time.</em> And with the thought of Curtis smiling down at Alice, Gus also drifted off to sleep.<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>_______________</p>
</div><p>Gus sat at the kitchen table to look at one of the many books on How to Raise a Baby. One of the pages listed out suggested vaccinations. “Great. She is due for a doctor’s visit,” Gus said to no one. She called the number on the Doctor’s list, and set up an appointment. Alice was awake again, so she went to her room to tell her the good news. “Hey, little bean! Looks like you and me are going to the Doctor’s next week! Time to start vaccinations!” Alice looked at Gus and smiled. </p><p>Gus stopped and thought, has she smiled yet? I know she has in her sleep, but not on purpose! Gus smiled in return. “If you knew what was in store, I promise that you would not be smiling.” Alice kept right on smiling anyway. Gus pulled her phone out of her back pocket and snapped a picture. Ok, maybe 10. The smiles covered her whole face, and she was wearing one of Gus’ favorite outfits, a soft gray pajama style number with tiny unicorns in no real pattern. Again she thought of Wynonna and should she send one. She compromised, and sent it through an app to make into a print. She could always decide later.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>_________________</p>
</div><p>The doctor’s visit was painful at best. Gus didn’t enjoy the questions that came from well-meaning nurses. “Where’s the mother?” She had provided them with the custody papers, and found that saying “it’s a confidential matter” seemed to be the best way to stop further questions. They took a barrage of measurements. Height, weight, head circumference (which tickled Gus. “They were just checkin’ if you had brains” she tells Alice at home). Then Gus watched with discomfort as the nurses prepared the shots. Alice, on the other hand, took the shots like a trooper! One good scream of a cry, less than 10 seconds of irritation, then nothing. The nurses were impressed. Gus breathed a sigh of relief.</p><p>“I’m proud of ya, Alice!” Gus said as she changed Alice out of an outfit into another. They had returned home, and Alice’s diaper yet again leaked. “Barely a peep! You are strong like your mother.”<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________</p>
</div><p>Alice had fallen asleep in her crib. Gus had taken advantage of a free moment while a load of laundry was drying to stop in and look into Alice’s room. “My goodness, I cannot believe this doesn’t get old.”  She took in a deep breath, and felt a stab in her chest. “The smell,” she sniffed the air again. “It’s gone. I didn’t know it wouldn’t last forever.” Gus reached forward and stroked from Alice’s forehead down her nose. Alice stirred but stayed asleep. “I guess all good things come to an end, don’t they?”<br/>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>______________</p>
</div><p>Back in Purgatory, Wynonna casually went through the mail Waverly had left on the dining table. One envelope had her and Doc’s name written on it, no return address. ”Odd” she thought. She opened the letter, and immediately fell into a chair.</p><p>In her hand she held two duplicate pictures of Alice. She was laying in a crib, a cute little outfit adorned with tiny unicorns. Her hands were frozen in space, caught mid wave. She was smiling at the camera. Doc’s smile. Wynonna noted Alice had her nose and cheeks. A tear rolled down Wynonna’s cheek, followed by another. She turned one of the pictures over. Written in Gus’ handwriting was the short and simple message that forced a sob from the brunette.</p><p>Remember what you are fighting for.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Do I have to say Love me Tender belongs to Elvis? And not to me? Just borrowing it? If so, I just said it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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